Amazon’s Alexa available in Amazon Music app on iOS and Android

Amazon’s Alexa voice control system can now be used to control the Amazon Music app on both Android and iOS mobile devices. This mobile integration is being rolled out in the U.S., UK, Germany, and Austria. Alexa can respond to the same range of queries as on the smart speaker of an Amazon Echo: asking for music from a certain artist, album, genre, time period, or activity will bring up songs that meet the criteria.

“Amazon Music customers already know and love Alexa from listening on Echo devices,” said Steve Boom, Vice President of Amazon Music. “Now our mobile listeners can enjoy an entirely new app experience that combines the power and simplicity of Alexa voice controls with the visual richness of the Amazon Music app.”

The addition of Alexa to more devices is particularly interesting given that Apple and Google both have their own voice assistants. These tech juggernauts are usually territorial about keeping their users siloed within brand-loyal ecosystems. Alexa has to be accessed specifically within the Amazon Music app, so using the regular voice prompts on any given device will still bring up the default hardware of Siri or Google Assistant.